German verb conjugations

Conjugation tables for 85 everyday German verbs, the most used first. Each page has the Präsens, Präteritum, Perfekt, both Konjunktiv forms and the imperative, plus the participle and which helper verb the Perfekt takes.

Practise conjugations: free German verb drills →

The 20 most common German verbs

• sein to be
• haben to have
• werden to become (helper verb: will, would)
• können can, to be able to
• müssen must, to have to
• wollen to want (to)
• sollen should, to be supposed to
• dürfen may, to be allowed to
• mögen to like (möchte: would like)
• machen to do, to make
• gehen to go (on foot)
• kommen to come
• sagen to say
• geben to give
• sehen to see
• wissen to know (a fact)
• fahren to go (by vehicle), to drive
• nehmen to take
• finden to find
• bleiben to stay

Modal verbs

können, müssen, wollen, sollen, dürfen, mögen: irregular in the singular (ich kann, er muss) and usually followed by an infinitive at the end of the sentence.

• können can, to be able to
• müssen must, to have to
• wollen to want (to)
• sollen should, to be supposed to
• dürfen may, to be allowed to
• mögen to like (möchte: would like)

Strong and irregular verbs

The stem vowel changes in the past (fahren → fuhr → gefahren, gehen → ging → gegangen), and often in the du and er/sie/es forms of the present too (du fährst, er sieht).

• sein to be
• haben to have
• werden to become (helper verb: will, would)
• gehen to go (on foot)
• kommen to come
• geben to give
• sehen to see
• wissen to know (a fact)
• fahren to go (by vehicle), to drive
• nehmen to take
• finden to find
• bleiben to stay
• essen to eat
• trinken to drink
• sprechen to speak
• lesen to read
• schreiben to write
• denken to think
• bringen to bring
• kennen to know (a person, a place)
• helfen to help
• laufen to run, to walk
• schlafen to sleep
• verstehen to understand
• bekommen to get, to receive
• tun to do
• heißen to be called
• sitzen to sit, to be sitting
• stehen to stand
• liegen to lie, to be lying
• treffen to meet
• vergessen to forget
• beginnen to begin
• fliegen to fly
• schwimmen to swim
• tragen to carry, to wear
• waschen to wash
• verlieren to lose
• gewinnen to win

Regular (weak) verbs

A stem that never changes, -te in the Präteritum and ge…t in the participle: machen → machte → gemacht.

• machen to do, to make
• sagen to say
• arbeiten to work
• spielen to play
• lernen to learn
• wohnen to live (somewhere)
• kaufen to buy
• fragen to ask
• brauchen to need
• hören to hear, to listen to
• suchen to look for
• zeigen to show
• glauben to believe
• warten to wait
• öffnen to open
• reisen to travel
• studieren to study (at university)
• kochen to cook
• tanzen to dance
• besuchen to visit
• bezahlen to pay
• erklären to explain
• erzählen to tell (a story)
• antworten to answer
• leben to live, to be alive
• hoffen to hope
• verkaufen to sell

Separable verbs

The prefix goes to the end of a main clause (ich stehe um sieben auf) and -ge- goes inside the participle (aufgestanden).

• aufstehen to get up
• anrufen to call (on the phone)
• einkaufen to go shopping
• anfangen to begin, to start
• ankommen to arrive
• abfahren to leave, to depart
• mitkommen to come along
• zurückkommen to come back
• einladen to invite
• fernsehen to watch TV
• aufmachen to open
• zumachen to close
• einschlafen to fall asleep